River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-04-28
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

- = Il
Wheeling CIV. Ya.) Register: Il
am reading with a great deal of interest
Nicolay and Hays life of Lincoln in
tie Century" said Mr.. John W.
Nichols, ex-President of the Omaha
Fire Department. to me. The
chapters that viii most interest me win
be those relating to his career from
1862 to 1865. and particularly the his
tory of the assassination. 1t Is not gen
orally known that more than one at
tempt upon LincoIn's life was made in
Washington, but such is the fact
Mr.. Nichols statement interested me
somewhat, and asked him to explain.
He then went on and told me substan-
TALLY the following story: In August.
1862, Company X. One Hundred and
Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, of
which Mr. Nichols was a member. was
detained as body guard of President
Lincoln.
Up to 1864. owing to the vigilance
Of the guards, Mr. Lincoln escaped all
attempts at violence. The back of the
Confederacy was broken. and a good
feeling pervaded all Washington. and
vigilance was considerably relaxed
Ii was then conspiracies were Matched
and Confederates ran the city unmo-
Tested The President aud his family
spent the summer months at the Sold
iers' Home, about three miles north of
the city. whittier the body guard accom-
panied them. Ii was the custom of
the President to remain late at the War
Department. and after his work was
conluded he would ride on horseback
out to the Home. That summer he had
persistently refused an escort, imagin-
ing himself perfectly secure.
One night about the middle of August
Mr.. Nichols was doing sentinel duty at
the large gate to the grounds of the
home. About IL o'clock he heard a
rifle shot, and shortly afterwark Mr..
Lincoln dashed up to the gate on horse
back The President was bare-headed,
and as he dismounted he said. referring
to the horse: .'He came pretty near
getting away with me. didn't he? He
got the bit in his teeth before I could
draw the rein" Mr.. Nichols asked him
where his hat was, and he replied that
somebody had fired gun OFF at the
foot Of the hill, ard that his horse had
become scared and ,erked his hat of.
Thinking the affair rather strange, p"
said Mr. Nichols. corporal and my
self went down the hill to make an in
vestigation At the intersection of the
driveway and main road we found the
Presidents hat-a plain silk one and
upon examining it we discovered hui
let-hole through the crown. The
shot had been fired upward,
and it was evident that the person who
had fired the shot had secreted himself
close by the roadside The next day
gave Mr.. Lincoln his hat and called
his attention to the bullet-hole. He re
marked rather unconcernedly that il
was put there by some foolish gunner
anu was HOb lAltItltl TOT NM IIt
said. however, that he wanted the mat
ter kept quiet, and admonished us to
say nothing aboutit We felt confident
that it was an attempt 10 kill him, and
a well nigh successful one, too. The
affair was. of course. kept quiet in com
pliance with the Presidents request
After that the President never rode
alone.
Mr. Nichols then went on to relate the
circumstances of a kidnapping conspira-
acy which was attempted to be carried
out the next fall. This plan was mn
knowingly frustrated by the body
guard, whose quarters were immedi-
ately in front OF the south porch of tie
Executive Mansion, equi-distant be-
tween that building and the Treasury.
State, War, and Navy Departments.
just to the east of the quarters was the
guard tent, where a portion ofthe body
guard remained on duty. For reasons
then unknown TO the guard the tent
was moved to the west end of the
gravel walk. in : e rear of the War De
partment. ,rtly afterward it was
learned by The guard that the very
night the ten was moved plan had
been laid to ca ,ture the President as he
should pass along the walk and carry
him to the house of one Green, a no.
torious Rebel, on tue bank of the Po-
tonic. back of the White House
grounds, and thence, when the oppOr-
-tunity offered. he was to be carried to
Richmond and heldas ahostage. TWAS
ALWAYS believed that the moving of the
guard tent to the west end of the walk
frightened the conspirators and
thwarted their design
At another time not long before this in
cideut, Bourke, the veteran coachman,
who had served through two admins
trations ut the White House. was taken
sick A stranger from Baltimore APP
piled for the place and succeeded in Sc
curing it in the absence of Bourke
He did not hold the place very long,
however. as he became so domineering
and important he was intolerable.
Bourke was reinstated. One night.
not long after he had been dismissed,
the discharged coachman was discoy-
cred sneaking about the stable, which
was soon observed to be on fire. The
whole guard was called out, and by
great exertions saved the Presidential
coach and team. but Tad Linclon's po-
ny and Col Hays carriage team per-
ished It was believed that plan had
been formed for this man to fire the
stables. and during the excitement con
spirators were to rush into the White
House and murder the President. Mr..
Lincoln, however, rushed out with the
rest to the scene Of the fire and thus
frustrated ANY attempt at assassination.
What made this appear more evil
dent said Mr. Nichols, WAS the
fact that after the incendiaFy was ar
rested ne produced several witnesses
who were employed at Ford's Theatre.
and who testified that he (the discharg-
ed coachman) was down in the city
during the whole evening on which the
fire occurred. These were the persons
who. in my opinion, laid the final con-
spiracr that brought Abraham Lincoln
TO his grave